DEREK McINNES is the first to admit that a failure by his Aberdeen side to beat Celtic last season “doesn’t sit well”.
But, almost in the same breath, the Dons manager recognises that while Ronny Deila’s side has lost the best player in Scotland over the past two seasons in Virgil van Dijk, the Hoops are not necessarily weaker.
The visit of the champions to Pittodrie tomorrow lunchtime is much anticipated in the north-east with the home fans in the sell-out crowd seeking assurances that their heroes have, indeed, improved as McInnes attests.
Five successive wins at the start of the Ladbrokes Premiership might be a heartening statistic for the so-called red army, and fired McInnes to the Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month prize for August, but the benchmark on their progress, at least in the eyes of many of those fans, could be established tomorrow.
McInnes couldn’t quite bring himself to agree that Celtic are in a period of transition, particularly in defence with the arrival of Tyler Blackett on loan from Manchester United and Jozo Simunovic, their big-money buy from Dinamo Zagreb.
“I don’t know,” he said. “They’ve managed to sign some good players.
"If you spend £5.5m on a player [Simunovic] regardless of age, you would expect a level of ability.
“So I think there will still be a familiarity about Celtic when the team sheet comes in.
“I think Ronny has signed some good players. They’ve managed to move on a few who weren’t making any impression and have managed to get a few in that will help them.
“Of course, they’ve lost van Dijk who for me was the best player in Scotland over the last couple of seasons.
“He was a big player for them but they’ve acted very swiftly to address that. We expect a tough match.
“I think what we’ve got to do is not expect anything other than a strong performance from Celtic. We’ve got to find the answers and not look for Celtic being poor to win game.
“We’ve got to concentrate on us being good enough to get the job done regardless of what team we play.”
Though the Dons defence has conceded only one goal in league action this season, an inability to capitalise on long periods of aggression against opponents is of concern to McInnes.
“‘We can improve upon a bit of everything,” he said. “We’re looking for an improvement in the performances against Celtic but also as a team throughout the season.
“In each of the games we’ve played against Celtic in the two years I’ve been here, we’ve always felt confident going into them and confident that we can win.
“That hasn’t changed.
“We feel taking our chances isn’t just in isolation to Celtic. We feel when we have good pressure we have to make the most of that and take the opportunities when they come along.
“You are not always going to get your own way for 90 minutes especially against a team like Celtic.
“You are going to have to have the discipline to defend properly at times when they ask questions of you.
‘When percentage-wise you don’t have as much of the attacking play as you would normally have against a lot of the other sides, there’s a responsibility to make the most of the chances.
“I think you’ve got to make the most of periods in the game when you are on top.
“We had that in each of the four games against Celtic last season.
Even in the heavy defeat down there, as ridiculous as it sounds, there was so much good about us for long periods before we went behind.
“Celtic are a good team. For me, it’s a challenge for us and an opportunity. I’m delighted that we’ve got the chance to take them on again.”
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